When a natural disaster hits, people can often lose access temporarily to healthcare, as hospitals and health clinics are forced to close. But what if you are a cancer patient and go for long periods of time without life-saving treatment. How do you cope?

Breast surgeon Deborah M. Axelrod, MD, from NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center recently spoke with Cure magazine and offered some advice for patients and families, such as those in Southeast Texas who were hit by Hurricane Harvey.

Dr. Axelrod offers several helpful tips such as having at least one week’s additional supply of medication on hand; having the personal phone numbers of all key care providers such as physicians and nurses; and to have knowledge ahead of time in case of an emergency.

“When you are undoing treatment for cancer, your service provider will do all they can to ensure you have no interruptions,” she says. “But, as the patient, you have to have your own plan to ensure you can make it to your treatments. There are serious consequences for many patients when treatment is disrupted.”